Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Kayla Herrera-Flores 12.6
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
Senior guard Kayla Herrera-Flores had nine points and two blocks in Friday's win.
66
N.M. Highlands NMH 1-5,0-1 RMAC
79
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 5-1,1-0 RMAC
N.M. Highlands NMH
1-5,0-1 RMAC
66
Final
79
Fort Lewis FLC
5-1,1-0 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
N.M. Highlands NMH 13 19 16 18 66
Fort Lewis FLC 26 20 19 14 79

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

FLC dominates rebounding battle, earns 79-66 win over Highlands to open RMAC play

DURANGO, Colorado — The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team tipped off RMAC action Friday evening against a familiar foe, downing the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls, 79-66, in the second meeting between the two teams this season.

Fort Lewis (5-1 overall, 1-0 RMAC) defeated the visiting Cowgirls (1-5 overall, 0-1) RMAC by a 77-48 final when the two teams matched up in a non-conference game back on Nov. 15.

Friday's rematch followed a similar script as the Skyhawks dominate the rebounding battle, 54-34, including a 22-8 edge in offensive rebounds that were cashed in for 16 second-chance points.

"Our girls battled really hard and we rebounded the ball really well, which is a credit to these two girls after being challenged at halftime," said Fort Lewis head women's basketball coach Orlando Griego, flanked by forwards Jordan Carter and Jordan Vasquez during the postgame interview. "We're really happy with the win."

Vasquez led the way with a game-high 14 rebounds, 10 coming on the offensive glass, to go with her nine points, while Carter posted her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Skyhawks also won the rebounding battle in the first matchup against NMHU, 45-31, and had 23 second-chance points in the November win.

There weren't many rebounds to have in the opening 10 minutes as the Skyhawks shot a sizzling 61% (11-of-18) in the first quarter to double-up the Cowgirls, 26-13.

NMHU hung around in the second quarter, inching with eight at 40-32 with 1:05 remaining in the first half, but FLC was able to bump the halftime lead back to 14 with a 6-0 burst that was aided by a technical foul call on the Cowgirls.

Behind a 29-point effort from guard Jordyn Lewis, the Cowgirls would again make a run in the third quarter to within seven points. But as they did all evening, the Skyhawks responded with a 19-9 blitz to end the quarter, capped off by a buzzer-beating jumper by Carter that made it a 65-48 Skyhawks' advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

"It got the bench excited, got everyone on the floor excited and kind of put a damper on the other team," Carter said of the sequences to end the second and third quarters. "Putting a stop to their momentum and giving us the energy we needed is really what we needed going into the next quarter and halftime."

FLC took the air out of the ball late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter with the clock on their side, using the opportunity to work on its half-court offense.

Nine different players would score Friday for the Skyhawks, led by Carter's 13 points, while senior Kaitlyn Romero and junior Bailey Osmer each added 11 points and junior guard Sydney Candelaria chipped in 10 points.

"Obviously, our game is to get up and down and play at a fast pace, but at the same time we need to be able to execute," Griego said. "There's no better time than game experience and being able to execute. That's one of the biggest reasons why I wanted us to slow it down…It's nice to be able to put up 80 points when we do slow it down."

Senior guard Kayla Herrera-Flores added nine points and two block shots, including a block of a Lewis 3-pointer after Herrera-Flores fought off a screen and sprinted to close out on the Cowgirls' sharpshooter with 2:06 remaining and FLC holding a 72-65 lead.

Fort Lewis will now turn its attention toward Colorado State University-Pueblo, which comes into Whalen Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m. Saturday with a 2-4 overall record and riding momentum from a 64-50 win over Adams State University on Friday.

One area Griego said the team will need to clean up Saturday and moving forward is at the free-throw line, where the Skyhawks ended Friday 12-of-24.

"We really need to concentrate and focus at the line, put those in," Griego said of the free-throw percentage. "We know as the games get closer and closer, the game is really tight, we need to make sure we're knocking free throws down and our girls know that, as well. It's more so them stepping to that line with confidence and putting the ball in the hole."
 
Print Friendly Version